The invention relates to a three-component blend of elastomers. In another aspect the invention relates to a blend of elastomers suitable for use in automobile tires.
With the advent of the energy crisis and the rather sudden demand for aromatic compounds to eliminate the requirement for alkyl lead compounds as antiknocking agents in gasoline, the effect on the supply and price of the most widely used general purpose synthetic rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, referred to herein as SBR, is understandable. Due to this shortage of styrene, efforts have been directed to find substitutes for SBR in various applications. It is known that tires made of medium vinyl polybutadienes, that is, those with a vinyl content ranging from about 35 to about 55 percent 1,2configuration, are approximately equal to tires made of SBR or cis polybutadiene-SBR blends.
Blending of various elastomers in order to obtain a blend with a balance of properties is well known in the art. In most instances a blend of two or more rubbers will result in a predictable compromise of properties. Therefore it was surprising to find a tertiary blend of elastomers with properties exceeding those normally expected.
It is an object of the invention to obtain a blend of elastomers suitable for use in various applications, such as for use in automobile tires.
Another object of the invention is to obtain a blend of elastomers suitable for use in making automobile tires which contains less styrene units than the elastomeric blends generally used for making automobile tires.